A long time ago I made profiteroles and I fancied making them again but this time as a big ring. I remember when I made the profiteroles rolls and they didn’t work the first time but had another go and they worked, I couldn’t remember which recipe I used. With any baking that is a bit more technical I always feel scared yet I feel it’s a challenging, I always give things a go and if they don’t work out, it can be quite upsetting BUT it’s not the end of the world, no one died, so I need to chill out and either have another go and bake something else. It’s all about trying and experimenting in life otherwise everyone would just live a boring life, right?
I do think they are a tricky thing to get right but once you’ve sussed it then it’s actually easy. I think the first thing to get right is the pastry dough, if this is too runny (by adding too much egg) then the choux pastry doesn’t work well, I think it becomes more cakey instead of crisp and no one wants a soggy cakey choux pastry right?
Well, yet again my choux pastry didn’t work the first time. I initially wanted to make a giant choux ring so everyone could have a slice, apparently I didn’t know it’s actually called a Paris Brest’s (how fancy and I think I would have to put on my best French accent to say it better, but I bet it still won’t sound right!) It went wrong as the last beaten egg had slipped out and went into the dough mixture. Arggggghhhhh then the dough was too slack and even when I was piping it I knew it was wrong. But I just baked it hoping for the best, and I had enough dough left and created smaller doughnut rings. The giant choux doughtnut didn’t work well, it was stoggy and thick and not crisp at all! What a disaster. However the good news was the doughnut ones did, so I gave it another go with less egg this time and yes!!! It worked, thank god, happy bunny!
So don’t make the mistake I did and add too much egg! check the consistency, it should be a smooth, thick texture that will falls from the beater like a thick ribbon.
- 50g - butter, cut into small cubes
- 75g - Asda Strong White Bread Flour, sifted
- 2 - large eggs, lightly beaten
- 25g - Asda Flaked Almonds (extra for sprinkling)
- 350ml - double cream
- 100-200g - dark chocolate
- 1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C Fan. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
- 2. Put the butter in a pan with 150ml cold water and a pinch of salt. Heat until the butter melts and then bring it to the boil. Once boiling, remove immediately from the heat and add all the flour at once. Beat hard with a wooden spoon until it forms a dough that leaves the sides of the pan clean. 3. Tip into a large bowl and leave to cool for 15 minutes.
- 4. Gradually beat one eggs into the dough – you can do this with a wooden spoon or an electric hand mixer. In a small bowl beat the other egg and slowly add the egg and beat until the dough reaches a thick ribbon like consistency.
- 5. Put the mixture into a freezer bag and use a star tip. Pipe small round doughnuts on the baking tray. Sprinkle the almonds on each doughnuts. Bake for 30 minutes, without opening the oven, or until puffed up and golden.
- 6. With a knife, make small holes round the edge (to let steam escape). Return to the oven for 5 minutes, then cool completly on a wire rack.
- 7. Using a stand mixer or electric mixer put the double cream a little bit of the icing sugar and vanilla extract and whip until you reach stiff peaks. Place the cream into a piping bag with a star tip.
- 8. In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate and melt in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stir and melt until completly melted.
- 9. Once the doughnuts have completly cooled, slice the doughnut in half and pipe with the bottom layer cream and either dip the top layer in chocolate or spread the chocolate on.
- 10. Sprinkle with extra almonds (optional)
